Capturing the world through photography, video and multimedia

Crack has become a nationwide epidemic in Brazil. The drug's use is spreading quickly, especially in the impoverished favelas, or slums. Above, a woman smokes crack in Mandela, a favela that was recently "pacified" by Brazil's military police.

Crack epidemic in Brazil

Brazil is dealing with what officials call a crack epidemic, affecting Brazilians of all ages and confounding government efforts to deal with it. Almost a year after a high-profile police effort to clean up Sao Paulo’s cracolandia as part of a revitalization program for the historic center, the outposts remain, but in a number of shifting locations rather than one large one.

Crack is cheap and readily available in Brazil, as is cocaine, the drug from which it is made. Compared with other parts of the world, homeless addicts here can meet their basic needs relatively easily. Some restaurants provide food and water. There is community. And it’s rarely so cold that sleeping outside is intolerable.

As crack has taken hold in Brazil over the last decade, cracolandias have popped up all around the country, from the Amazon jungle in the distant northwest to nearby Rio de Janeiro.